Throughout my experiences, I have seen first hand how difficult it is to facilitate conversations about race and racism. As a Black male, I personally find it challenging to express my racial experiences and perspectives to others who may not share similar backgrounds. Facilitating these conversations may often involve tension, conflict, and fear which contributes to discomfort. This may mitigate the probability of continuing dialogue. No matter what setting these conversations take place, both the facilitator and participants may bring emotional experiences along with their deeply held values and beliefs into the room. Throughout my previous experiences, I have collected valuable resources and takeaways that have prepared me to become more comfortable with the discomfort that comes with leading conversations about racism, privilege, and power. The following are suggestions for facilitating productive conversations on race.

Operational Psychologists Coach Special-Operations Forces Psychologists help train the most elite military members to help maximize mission success

Synopsis: Some of the most elite members of the American military are those in the special-operation forces (SOF), including Navy SEALS, Army Green Berets, and Air Force Air Commandos. These SOF members must have an impressive skill set ranging from reconnaissance and weapons expertise to diplomacy and comfort with cultural diversity. The grueling assessment and training of these soldiers and support staff is not only physically taxing but also mentally and emotionally challenging, highlighting the importance of the decades-long work operational psychologists (OP) have done to assist in the selection and training of these top-performing military personnel.

Sport Psychology Allows Team USA Athletes to Achieve Peak PerformanceAmerican psychologists work with athletes on the field and in the gym to help bring home medals

Synopsis: Sport psychologists have been working with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to provide athletes with a competitive edge. A cadre of psychologists employed by the USOC works with athletes and coaches to help them achieve peak performance. These psychologists employ a host of methods, including mindfulness, competitive simulation, and virtual reality to make sure that the athletes are ready for any possible scenario.

The Neuroscience of Consulting

Dr. Ken Nowack (www.envisialearning.com), co-editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research, was recently interviewed by an influential journalist/blogger. The primary topic was the research contained in a special CPJ issue about the neuroscience of consulting, including coaching, psychological safety/interpersonal trust, habit/behavior change and enhancing employee resilience.

Here’s what he had to say about the special issue and particularly interesting findings in several of the articles:

While consulting to the Minister of Health of Zanzibar and the State University of Zanzibar this December, I noticed something peculiar here. In hotel lobbies across the island, there are Christmas trees of all shapes and varieties. But the island is almost 99 percent Muslim, with almost all of the hotels run by families who are not Christian, or from cultures that would celebrate Christmas. The answer of why then they have Christmas trees in the lobbies of a predominantly Muslim region of the world, may seem obvious. But it also provides us insights, we may not have considered, for leadership in diverse settings.

Inclusion at Work

Why isn't work an adventure? For many people, work sucks. The polite term for sucky work is that labor generates "disutility." Even that word "labor" conjures fatigue-inducing physical exertion. But still we can ask the question: Why isn't your job making you happy?

Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary. Mark TwainHave you ever experienced leaders who seem to lose it during meetings or tense interactions with others–emotions spewing out of them like hot lava leaving an active Mount St. Helens? Or, dealing with those analytical, controlled and “closed” leaders who always appear to be emotionally constipated?

Are you working hard to build a career you love, but feeling stressed and exhausted? You could be burning out. The physical and emotional price you’ll pay means that you’re more likely to end up in a doctor’s office than a corner office. Here’s a checklist of signs your job is taking a toll on your wellbeing:

I have had the privilege of co-facilitating a presentation at the annual Consulting Psychology Conference and at the APA National Convention for the past several years on transitioning into consulting. One frequent question has been “how to I know I have the right stuff?”

In the early hours of September 4, 2010, I was abruptly awakened by a deafening roar and violent jolts that lasted almost a minute. This 7.1-magnitude earthquake was the first of more than eleven thousand seismic events that shook the Canterbury region in New Zealand to its core over the next two years. These left an indelible mark on the community, from substantial infrastructure damage to disrupted businesses and services. The Canterbury earthquakes posed a major resilience test for the region’s infrastructure and people, the latter evident in reports of significant declines in mental health and well-being.

Whenever the topic of job burnout gets raised, the first question asked is usually, “What can we do about it?” Indeed, the drive to discover solutions is so prevalent that the e-journal that I coedit, Burnout Research, has just sent out a call for a special issue on “Challenges of Doing Burnout Interventions.”

For the past 10 years, the American Psychological Association has conducted the Stress in America™ survey to examine how stress affects the health and well-being of adults in the US. The most recent study, which surveyed more than 3,500 adults in August 2016, found that almost two-thirds of respondents agree either “strongly” or “somewhat” that periodically “unplugging” or taking a “digital detox” is important for their mental health. However, only about a quarter of those who agreed actually said they did so. Indeed, fatigue, sleep challenges, and burnout are just a few outcomes from our “always on” society with its relentless workload demands for employees at all levels.